Washington (CNN) - A new national survey is further proof that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's entrance earlier this month into the race for the White House has dramatically altered the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

According to a CNN/ORC International Poll of Republicans and independent voters who lean towards the GOP, Perry now sits atop the list of Republican presidential candidates, with strong support from most demographic groups.

(CNN) - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Alan Krueger to be the new chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Krueger is a Harvard-educated economist at Princeton University who served as assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist of the U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier in Obama's term.FULL POST

CNN: Irene leaves damaging floods, widespread destruction
At least 21 deaths across eight states were blamed on Irene, which had fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and was headed over eastern Canada by Monday morning. Some of the biggest, continuing headaches involved flooding, as tidal storm surges and overflowing, fast-moving rivers left homes in North Carolina and points northward awash.FULL POST